Marylanders Grow Oysters
in the St. Mary’s River

UPDATE: We are expanding this program to 100 piers in fall 2101. We need more volunteers to grow ousters under their piers from September through June 2011. Oysters are then planted into the St. Mary's River sanctuary. To join this program call 301-862-3517 or email BobLewis@stmarysriver.org.

The Marylanders Grow Oysters program is designed to foster stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay and create living oyster reef populations in sanctuaries.

In St. Mary's River, ninety citizen volunteers tend to young oysters in wire mesh cages suspended from their piers for the oysters’ first year of life. The oysters require minimal care – mostly rinsing the cages every two weeks. After a year, the oysters will be collected and placed in an oyster sanctuary in the St. Mary’s River.

Oysters are important because they clean the water, are a vital part of the food web, and create living reefs that attract fish and other aquatic species.

Learn more about the program at the Marylanders Grow Oysters web site: www.oysters.maryland.gov   or read our first press release:   June 10, 2009 Press Release - PDF format

Photo captions: Top—Oysters arrive at our warehouse pier by truck.    Left—SMCM student volunteers distribute cages with oyster spat to grower volunteers. Below Right—On arrival the ten-day old spat (baby oysters) are about the diameter of a BB pellet. Bottom Left—This two-week old spat is bigger than my index finger nail. Bottom Center—Numerous two-week old spat are attached to this five-inch long oyster shell. Bottom Right: Eight-week old oysters are beginning to lift away from the shell substrate, and range in size from a 3/4-inch to more than one-inch.


             

Photo Captions: Below Left—Twelve-week old oysters...the largest at the end of the index finger is about 1 1/4-inch long. Below Center—Three shells with more than twenty twelve-week old spat growing on each one. Below Right—Fourteen-week old oyster stands out on this shell fragment.

             

Photo Captions: Below Left—Fourteen-week old oysters...about a dozen on this shell.

      

Nearly 200 grower volunteers at 88 piers are stewarding 600 cages with spat on shell through their vulnerable first year of life. The growers are located throughout the tidal St. Mary's River and tidal tributaries, in Smith Creek, and in St. Jerome's Creek.

Who are the Volunteer Growers?

Growers are asked to count spat and shells with the goal of evalauting the success of the program. From this data, some assessments of mortality rates in differing water quality and geographic locations can be determined. Volunteers can download the report forms, which should be filled out before December 15th, and again in April and June.

Report Form (MSWord format)    |    Report Form (PDF format)

December 22, 2009—A group of people from the St. Mary's River community filed testimony with the State regarding sanctuaries in the St. Mary's River.

Testimony (PDF format)

The Murphys counting spat for the first report, fall 2009. Pictured from left: Peter, Tyler, Patrick, and Sydney.

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St. Mary's River Watershed Association, Inc.
Post Office Box 94
St. Mary's City, MD 20686